Overview
- GSC Game World deployed Update 1.7 on Steam, titled Expedition, for Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
- The patch introduces a new Master difficulty that makes threats deadlier, resources scarcer, gear less durable, prices higher, and saving limited to camps or select story moments.
- An optional Expedition modifier applies the same save restriction to any difficulty to turn travel between hubs into higher‑stakes excursions.
- A‑Life simulation changes let stalker factions dynamically capture or cede territory while mutants participate in border skirmishes.
- Stealth, UI, and systems see refinements including reduced NPC vision through vegetation, an Immersion Mode that hides the HUD, new anomalies and weather, an energy‑drink tremor effect, and numerous fixes and optimizations.